[i]'I see you...'[/i] The entrance to the room opens one final time, as the last member of the assault walks through: The Mercenary. Her bow is in her hand and arrow already half-drawn as she walked, going around the large crowd and, hopefully, avoiding detection. She didn't count on that, though. She was eager to use her shortswords on the giant beast, though decided against it. Sure, she may be fast enough to dodge it's strikes and get away, though it was more than likely this thing would regenerate HP whenever she wasn't hitting it, which would be a cause for concern. Then again, the guilds appeared to have taken care of that... She looks up at one of the giant pillars that held the roof on the place. At the very top was a small ledge that would allow for a great amount of cover, height and, assuming she's close enough, range. It'd also keep her reasonably hidden, too, if the beast wasn't smart enough to track an arrow's trajectory. The only trouble was getting up or down. Though, Kilia had an idea for going up. Opening her inventory, she scrolls through until she finds something: a grappling hook and rope, it seems. Perhaps this was also what she used to scale the fortress? Regardless, she begins to spin the hook around and around, before release. In real life, this would most certainly fail, or at least be nigh impossible to do. However, in the virtual realm, anything can happen, as the hook spins right around the base of the pillar just above the ledge. After a slight tug to see if the rope held tight, she took a few steps back before running up the pillar, pulling on the rope as she did so. When she finally reached the top, she put the item back into her inventory, aware of how low durability it was now getting. She made a mental note to go back to a smithy and have it repaired once this was over. Retrieving her bow once more, she immediately knocks an arrow without second thought, and aims directly at the beast's eye, concentrating heavily. Her breathing slowed, the rest of the room zoned out, all she was thinking about was hitting that fucker in the eye.... [center]---[/center] The large goblin had laid down his club to scratch its rear. It was oblivious of the player guilds standing on the far edge of the enormous hallway. A black arrow found its mark right in the goblin's left eye. The creature began roaring and shouting in pain, it picked up and swung its club all over the place. The guilds charged forward, with Vanguard and another guild at the front. "Keep yourselves spread out!" Darrus shouted. "Remember the plan!" A soldier from another guild was the first to reach the goblin. The enormous creature flattened the man with the weight of his spiked shield. Two more soldiers, who were sticking too close together, tried to flank the side-boss. The goblin swung around with his club, hitting both men in the process. They were sent flying through the air, but their health bars weren't empty. It looked like they would live. "That shield is heavy enough to one-shot a player!" Besil shouted. "Stay away from its shield!" Thall came to a stop right in front of the goblin. He banged his sword against his own shield, and the creature noticed him. "Now! Hit its legs!" Thall yelled. He braced as the Goblin swung its club through the air. He was able to dodge the first attack, but when the creature swung back again, the massive club Thall right on his shield. He was knocked down, but he managed to pull himself back up to his feet. The goblin still had its one eye fixed on him. [center]---[/center] [i]'Time to see if we can make this easier...'[/i] Mora began raining down arrows from her position, aiming for the higher parts of the body, going for precision and power over trying to inflict a load of damage with multiple arrows. Many shots found their mark on the creatures skin, though an equal amount simply "[i]Plinked![/i]" off of its armour like nothing. She's been coating her arrows with status potions, such as major paralysis, weakening and poison. The ones that hit would more than likely apply their effects. However, she'd used up all of her potions now. The beasts movements begin to slow given time. Paralysis and weakening, followed by a drowsiness effect, seemed to all be taking their toll. Of course, it wouldn't last long, and the beast wasn't completely immobile, though it manages to trip itself on the base of a pillar which sends it on it's back. The men attacking from behind barely make it out of the way, though there might've been on or two who didn't make it. But now, the creature was down... "Quickly!" One of the Guild Leader's shouted. "Attack him before it wears off! Use a SWITCH with a defensive player if he seems to be waking up!" The Guilds charge and the main assault teams strike at the creatures legs in a flurry of swipes, slashes and smashes, using their sword skills to deal as much damage as possible. To those who stayed back, progress was being made on the Goblin's health bar, to say the least, especially with the weakening and paralysis in play, though it was going to wear off very soon... That didn't stop Kilia, though. She was out of potions, though she wasn't done, as she'd made her way down the pillar and towards the beast. Now leaving her bow on her back, she draws upon her shortswords and strikes at the Goblin's feet, mostly attacking by using a spinning motion to inflict quick and brutal amounts of damage. No sword skills are activated, however even so she appears to be doing rather well for a solo player, as one might notice. [center]---[/center] Through the combined efforts of the guilds and individual players, the side-boss's health was finally reaching its lowest points. "Knights of the Blood Oath are about to launch an all out attack!" Darrus informed the rest of his guild. "Can't let them have all the glory." Thall said in between breaths. His condition was alright, but he had been one of the main tanks drawing the attention of the boss. Through the whole fight, Thall and the other tanks had dropped down to low hp, but used the switch function to save each other. Vanguard had provided its own with plenty of potions, so Thall had been able to heal up in between his tanking shifts. "We should all go in at once." Darrus said, confidently. "Although we shouldn't be stacking up, if we pull off this attack, we won't have to worry about that. Let's end this." Thall and Besil did not argue. The rest of the Vanguard soldiers were ready. The guild as a whole had suffered three deaths, but other guilds were much worse off. Any second spent fighting this boss was a death sentence for someone. "Thall, you go in first for Vanguard's charge." Darrus ordered. Thall nodded. "The rest of us will be behind you, but you won't be going in alone. Other guild's strongest players will be right next you, leading the charge." Darrus added. "Looks like Blood Oath's lead in Heathcliff." Thall said. He moved forward to stand at the front, next to Heathcliff. The legendary leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath was the one leading the charge, just as Darrus had said. Heathcliff didn't even seem to notice the other players lining up beside him. His eyes were on the boss. Everyone was ready. He began his charge, and the sturdiest players of each guild were alongside him, forming an arrow formation with Heathcliff at the point. Following each player was his respective guild, following their charging comrades. Thall felt not a single bit of fear, for he knew his guild mates were right behind him. The players clashed with the boss in a spectacular fray. The boss lifted his giant shield. If he brought it down, all of the players at the charge would be crushed in an instant. It would have been a disaster. But in this final all out attack, the players put everything they had into one momentous strike. The damage output sky-rocketed: almost every player in the hallway, even the wounded ones, were involved in some way. The boss's health bar reached zero before he could bring down his enormous spiked shield. The giant goblin de-materialized. A small victory screen popped up in front of Heathcliff. Everyone was too tired to cheer.